We invite you to read the column written by our partner, Antonio Rubilar, on the new environmental impact crime scenario in the Economic Crimes Law.
The new Law on Economic Crimes extends the criminal consequences that can be derived from an environmental offense to organizations. That is to say, from now on, companies may also be criminally liable for an eventual environmental crime.
Among the environmental offenses included in the new law are, for example, dumping polluting substances in continental maritime waters; extracting water without having undergone an environmental impact assessment; dumping polluting substances in wetlands; among others.
This is the tone of the law, pollution in different ways and the extraction of resources without authorization will be punished, to the extent that such impacts have not been environmentally assessed.
In this context, the legal entity may be sanctioned in different ways, either with fines or reputational effects by publishing an extract of the condemnatory sentence. It may even eventually be sanctioned with a disqualification to enter into contracts with the State, among others.
Given this scenario, it is essential that companies include potential environmental risks of their operations in their compliance policies. This is because if the company can prove that it has developed a compliance program and trained its employees in environmental matters, it will have an additional line of defense to protect its responsibility.
In this sense, companies must advance today towards the construction of a corporate culture of sustainability. They must have reliable evidence of how they have prepared to address the environmental issue and that the information provided in the environmental assessment is correct.
When submitting projects for assessment, full documentation should be provided and information should never be withheld. In other words, make available to the authority all that is needed to evaluate the project in an effective manner so that potential impacts can be determined.
However, the situation of economic crimes is going to have a lot of jurisprudential development, that is to say, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Courts and the authorities will be fleshing out the law. Therefore, it is not easy to foresee what will finally come out.
But what is clear is that the law we have today changes the paradigm of how companies have to deal with environmental offenses, because they will not only have reputational implications, but also financial and legal consequences and penalties different from those received by the executives who have participated in the offenses. In view of this, a compliance program is key. This will be your best shield against potential crimes that may occur.
Column written by Antonio Rubilar | Partner
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